Next to close its flagship shop on Dublin’s Grafton Street

Fashion and accessories retailer Next is to close its shop on Dublin's Grafton Street and make way for another fashion and lifestyle group Hugo Boss.

Next’s decision to leave the high street after more than 20 years is in line with its new marketing strategy of concentrating mainly on large in-town or out-of-town stores.

Next’s wish to leave 68 Grafton Street surfaced last autumn but with the shop then clearly paying over the odds for rent at €825,000 per annum and retail sales on the street going through a difficult patch, a delay in finding a replacement tenant seemed inevitable.

At the same time it was widely known that a number of international traders including Hugo Boss and Zara Homes were looking for a prime location on the street.

Upwards-only lease 

The Mango fashion group which opened a new shop on Henry Street in recent weeks is also thought to have been interested in the Grafton Street store.

Next eventually agreed to assign its 35-year institutional lease to Hugo Boss in the expectation that the German trader will open for business over the summer months.

The final five-year rent review on the upwards-only legacy lease is expected to pass without any attempt to increase the rent by State Street, which manages the premises on behalf of IBI Nominees.

The decision by Hugo Boss to operate its own store on Grafton Street comes almost two years after it opened a successful outlet in the Dundrum Town Centre.

Up to then the firm had been relying on a franchise operation. Since deciding to end most of its 1,000 franchise arrangements around the world, the company has been rolling out its own stores at an increasing pace.

Next’s 557sq m (6,000sq ft) of retail space at basement, ground and first floor level on Grafton Street is well short of the company’s now standard store size in the UK of 3,716sq m-5,574sq m (40,000sq ft- 60,000 sq ft).

Larger stores

With enlarged floor space typically on two levels, Next has been able to combine its clothes and accessories divisions with its home furnishings business. “That formula is working exceptionally well for the company, hence the ongoing search for larger stores in Ireland,” said Irish agent Karl Stewart of DTZ Sherry FitzGerald.

Ideally, Next would like to have a spacious outlet such as the former National Irish Bank on College Green which has been given a new lease of life by H&M.

Next has been able to combine its broad offering in the Dundrum Town Centre where it has an floor area of 3,500sq m (37,673 sq ft) and at Westend in Blanchardstown where it rents a 3,716 sq m (40,000 sq ft) store. Next operates a 3,251sq m (35,000sq ft) store in Liffey Valley and has sought additional space there to maximise its offering. It also has a successful Home store at The Park in Carrickmines.